License plate holder for automobiles



Oct. 4, 1932. 5, KESSLER 1,881,279

LICENSE PLATE HOLDER FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed July 5, 1952 IN ENTORPatented Oct. 4, 1932 restate PATENT OFFEQE I GEORGE M. KESSLER, OFJERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY LICENSE PLATE HOLDER FOR AUTOMOBILES Applicationfiled July 5, 1932. Serial No. 620,802.

My present invention relates to a frame or holder adapted to be appliedto the front or rear, or both front and rear of automobiles, for thepurpose of holding a license plate in position for identification. Theobject of the invention is to provide a holder from which the licenseplate cannot be detached without destroying the plate. At present it isthe practice to attach the license plates of automobiles by simplybolting them in a frame or holder from which the plates may be readilydetached or removed by unauthorized persons, and new and fictitiousplates substituted in their place. It is common practice for thievesstealing automobiles to have a fictitious or substitute set of plates,and after stealing the automobile and driving it a short distance fromthe place where it was stolen, to detach the owners or operators lawfulplates belonging to the particular automobile, and to substitutefictitious plates in their place. If the owner or operator of theautomobile discovers the loss of the vehicle and gives an alarm, he orshe will naturally give the number of the authorized license plateswhich were on the automobile, and by the time a police alarm has beenbroadcast the thief or thieves will have completed the substitution ofthe fictitious plates, so that police officers on the lookout for thestolen vehicle will be misled by the fictitious plates having differentnumbers than the correct or anthorized plates which were removed.

In order to avoid this, I provide a simple and inexpensive frame intowhich the license plate may be readily inserted, together with aremovable frame member which is tem proper position, is so looked thatthe license "plate cannot be removed from the frame without severing theplate either by chiseling it or by sawing through it, in order to permitthe severed portions to be slid one over the other and therebyreleasethe locking devices which look the detachable member to the main portionof the frame. Thus the license plate is deformed or divided into partsin order to remove it from the frame. This operation is one which cannotbe readily carried out by a thief who steals the aut0n1o-. 55. bile, orat least it cannot be done quickly enough to permit a rapid exchange forfictitious or unauthorized plates. On the other hand, if thieves doresort to the cutting of the plate, at least the plates so mutilatedcannot be again used in another operation as they will readily disclosethe fact that they have been mutilated. I

I am aware that attempts have been made to provide locking frames forlicense plates, but the object of the present invention is to make apractical, inexpensive and simple devices for the purpose and to providea simple way of inutilating or cutting the plate in order to make itremovable from the holder. Other advantages will be set forth in thefollowing detailed description of my invention.

In the drawing forming part ofthis ap-' plication,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a license plate and its frame inoperative condition, some parts being broken away to show the interior.Y

Figure 2 is a front elevation of one end 0 the frame and license plateshowing the removable member of the frame about to be inserted inposition; and in'which view, a portion ofthe frame is broken away toshow one of the locking pawls,

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the frame, 3 illustrating the licenseplate after it has been severed and with the parts moved in to permitthe locking devices to be released,

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 1,

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on-thc line 66 of Figure 1,

Figure 7 is a sectional View similar to Figure 5 but with the licenseplate removed, and

Figure 8-is a sectional View taken on the line 88 of Figure 3.

In the drawing I have shown a frame 1 of rectangular shape and thestationary portion of the frame may be irremovably attached to or made apart of any type of bracket which is mounted on the frame or chassis ofan automobile so as not to be readily removable. This frame is shown asconsisting of a lower horizontal tube 2 at the ends of which areupwardly extending tubes 3, 1 which are connected preferably by mitredjoints 5 with the lower tube 2 either by welding or in any otherdesirable manner, so that the lower horizontal tube and the upwardlyextending tubes at the opposite ends of the frame form a solid U shapedstructure. These tubular members are each provided with a slot 6 ontheir inner sides or facing the opening 'Z within the frame. The slots 6of each of these tubular members align with each other or, in otherwords, all of the slots of-the tubular members are in the same commonvertical plane. Within the lower tubular member 2 I have shown restingpieces or buttons 8 on which the bottom edge of the license plate mayrest, and these maybe made of compressible material in order to avoidnoise and rattling of the license plate. 7

The upper or closing member of the frame consists of a horizontallyextending tubular member 9 which corresponds with the lower tubularmember 2 except that it is detachable from the remainder of the frame.It also is hollow and has a longitudinal groove 10 on its inner sidewhich, when the removable tube is in operative position, lies in thesame vertical plane with the slots 6 of the several tubes 2, 3, d. Fromthe above it will be apparent that the frame consists of several memberspreferably in the form of a rectangle, the several members being hollowto receive various edges of the license plate; and each having alongitudinal groove through which the corresponding edge of the licenseplate extends, so that the several edges of the license plate are allenclosed within the tubular members of the frame. V The removabletubular member 9 is preferably chamfered at the opposite ends as at 11to form a close mitred joint with the upright tubular members 3, l. Ateach end the tube 9 is provided with a short post 12 extending at rightangles to the tube and rigidly held thereto by brazing,welding or in anyother manner. On the lower end of each of these projections I haveprovided a spring arm 13 each of which is provided with a hook or pawl14 on the free end and the posts 12 with their spring arms 13 areadapted to be inserted into the bores of the two end tubular members 3,4i of the frame, so that thespring arms are enclosed in the verticaltubes when the frame is assembled.

On the back surfaces of the two vertical tubes 3, 4 I provide aprojecting housing 15 which is integral with or is firmly secured bywelding or otherwise to these tubes. With- 2, 4c, 5 and 6 a licenseplate which is usually 7 u made of sheet metal and which usually bears anumber designating the ownership of the automobile to which the deviceis attached; or in other words, it is one of the license plates usuallyissued by authority of the particular state of which the owner is aresident. As originally furnished to theowner of the vehicle, this plateis generally of sheet metal of rectangul r shape, and is made of onepiece. 7 In assembling the license plate in the frame, the upper tubularmember 9 is detachable from the remainder of the frame and the licenseplate 20 is insert-ed from the top by allowing it to slide with its endedges extending through the slots 6 of the vertical tubes 3, l, thelicense plate sliding downwardly until the bottom edge enters the slot 6of the bottom tube 2 and until the lower edge of the plate rests on theabutments 8. The removable tube 9 is then applied in the manner shown inFigures 2 and 1 to the stationary frame by presenting it over thestationary frame, as shown in Figure 2, and moving it downwardly so thatthe hooks 1 1 on the lower ends of the spring arms 13 enter between theedge of the license plate and the rear sides of the verticaltubularmembers 8, 1. As the tube 9 is moved downwardly, the spring arms 18slide between the edges of the license plate and the rear wall of thevertical tubes 3, l until the mitred ends of the tube 9 rest against themitred ends of the vertical tubes 8, 4, thus closing the frame orcompleting the rectangle.

When the upper tubeis brought into its final position, the hooks orpawls 14 on the spring arms 13 will have passed below the hooks 18 onthe spring arms 17, the latter arms being forced back until the hooks14: pass below the hooks 18, whereupon the spring arms 13 are heldasshown in Figure (3 by the license plate in such position in relationto the hooks 18 so that the top frame mem her or tube 9 is locked to thestationary portion of the frame. V'Vhen in this position the upper tubecannot be raised because the hooks 14 are locked by the hooks 18 as longas the license plate engages the arms 13.

It is apparent that once the tube member 9 is lowered intoposition andlocked by engageinent of the hooks 14', 18, the several portions of theframe are so looked that they cannot be detached for the removal of thelicense plate. It will be apparent also that to remove the top f amemember it isneces sary to sever thelicense plate in order to remove itfrom the frame.

I have shown notches 21 extending inwardly in the lower tube member 2 toexpose a small portion of the lower edge of the license plate whichextends into this tubular member, the notches being formed preferably inmember, as shown in Figure 1; and the slots 22 are preferably arrangedin vertical alignment with the slots 21 although this particulararrangement is not imperative. I have shown these several notches adjacent one end of the license plate although it will be apparent thatthey may be otherwise disposed.

I have shown reinforcing pieces 23 welded onto the tubes 2, 9 and aroundthe slots 21, 22 in order to reinforce the tube around the slots sincethe initial strength of the tube is weakened by the slots.

It will be apparent from the above that when the license plate has beeninserted edgewise through the several slots 6 of the three stationarytubes, and after the detachable tube has been placed into position, asshown in Figure 1, the hooks 14 on the spring arms 13 are held in thepath of the hooks 18 by the end portions of the license plate so thatthe tube 9 cannot be disengaged or removed from the stationary frame.Since the license plate is enclosed around its four edges it cannot beremoved from the frame except in the manner hereinafter described.

In Figure 8 I have shown an enlargement or increase 25 in the width ofthe slot 6 of the lower tube 2 and the upper tube 9 is provided with asimilar enlargement in line with that of the lower tube.

Assuming that the operator of the automobile is about to remove thelicense plate and put a new one in the frame, he may proceed as follows:A chisel may be used to cut the plate 20 into two sections by cuttingcrosswise of the plate in line with the notches 21, 22. The purpose ofthe notches is to allow the tool which is used to cut the plate to beinserted far enough to reach the extreme edges of the license plate. Ifdesired, a hack saw may be employed to saw the plate in two, but in mostcases it is preferably to lay theplate against a supporting surface andwith a chisel cut through the same in line with the notches 21, 22. Thiswill divide the plate into two sections 26 and 27.

The section 27 may then be slid lengthwise of the frame toward theright, as shown in Figure 3; and the section 26 may also be slidlengthwise of the frame, to the left in Figure 3. In order to allow thedivided sections of the'plate to pass each other or overlap, the

ments 25 of the upperand lower tubes in order that this section of theplate may be switched and moved laterally enough to per- 'mit it tooverlap the section 27 of the plate, as

shown in Figure 8. When the two sections of the plate have been moved tooverlapping j relation, as shown in Figure 3, the extreme ends of theplate will have been withdrawn from the two vertical tubes 8, 4 andtherefore, they will have been withdrawn from behind the spring arms 13.As soon as'this' occurs," these spring arms, due to their original shapeand their resiliency, will swing laterally sufficiently to permit thehooks 14 to pass the hooks 18; or, in other words, the tube 9 will beunlocked and it may be withdrawn by moving it upwardly from thestationary mem- =bers of the frame, disengaging the projections 12 andthe spring arms 13 from the two vertical tubes. When the top tubehasbeen removed, the two portions of the license plate may be liftedvertically out of the frame. A new license plate may then be reinsertedinto the frame in the same manner as was the original, and the tube 9may be returned to the position shown in Figure 1, thus locking andsecuring the new plate in position.

It will be apparent from the above that it is necessary to cut thelicense plate in two in order to remove it from the frame. and the platewill of course show that it has been mu- 7,

tilated. v

As the license plate is ordinarily renewed but once a year, the troubleinvolved in cutting the plate to remove it from the frame is more thancompensated for by the fact that the license plate cannot besurreptitiously removed quickly and in many cases this will prevent athief from quickly removing the license plate and thus destroying theidentity of the vehicle to which it is applied.

I have shown the posts 12 on which the spring arms 13 are mountedprovided with vertical slots 30 to receive the upper edge of the licenseplate, so that the license plate is centrally held in order that it willaccurately hold the hooks 14: of the spring arms 13 locked belowthehooks 18 when the device is in assembled position. The top of theslot 30 also prevents the license plate from jumping upwardly.

It will be apparent that both front and of the plate and having slots toreceive the edges of the plate therein, said frame extending around asubstantial portion of the plate, and a removable frame member forengaging an edge of the license plate to hold the same her having anopening therein to expose the ima or portion of the plate, and havingslots facing said opening to 1'8081V6Wl3l18 edges of,

the license plate therein, said frame extending around a substantialportion of the license plate, and a tubular, removable frame amember forengaging an edge of the license plate to hold the same in lockedposition Within said stationary frame member, said removable memberhaving a slot facing said frame opening, means for locking said re--gmovable frame member to said stationary frame member, said lockingmeans being enclosed in said frame When the removable frame member is inoperative position, said locking means being held in locked positionbythe license plate held Within said frame,

whereby the license plate must be'dividet into separate parts todisengage the same from said frame locking means.

3. Ina frame for holding license or simi-- :lar plates, a stationaryframe member having an opening therein to expose the or portion of theplate and having slots to receive the edges of the plate therein, saidframe extending around a substantial portion of the .2 plate, aremovable frame member for engaging an edge of the license plate to holdthe same in locked position Within said stationary frame member,resilient interlocking members for locking said removable *3 '2 framemember to said stationary frame me1nber, one of said interlockingmembers being disposed Within saidstationary frame memher, and anothercarried by said removable frame member, said latter locking memberJibeing adapted to be held in locking relation With the firstmentionedlocking member by the license plate held in said frame, whereby thelicense plate must be divided into p arts to unlock said locking means.

4. In a frame for holding license or similar latesa stationar framemember havin an opening therein to expose the major portionof the plateand having slots facing said opening to receive the edges of the platethere- .Jin, said stationary frame member extending around a substantialportion of the plate, a removable frame member for engaging an edge ofsaid plate to hold the same inlocked position With n said stationaryframe member, a resilient lockmgmember fixed 1n sald stationary framemember, a resilient locking member carried by said removable framemember and adapted to co-operate With said first locking member to lockthe movable to the stationary frame member, said locking members beinheld in looking relation by a plate held in said frame, whereby saidplate must be divided into parts to disengage the same from said lockingmembers to permitthe removal of said removable frame members.

5; in a frame for holding license or similar plates, a stationary framemember having an opening to expose the face of the plate and havingslots facing. said opening to receive the edges of the plate therein,said frame extending around a substantial portion of the plate, aremovable l'raine'member for engaging an edge of the license plate tohold the same'in locked position Within said stationary frame member, aresilient arm secured in said tationary frame member and having alocking member thereon, a resilient arm carried by toe removable framemember and having a hook adapted to escape past said locking nember ofsaid first arm When the iovable franc member is being placed in lockingposition, said second mentioned arm l eing adapted to be disposed toengage the face of the held in said frame and to be held therel thatsaid hook is in the path of said f x oekir member, whereby the platemust be severed into sections to release said locking means for theremoval of said removable frame member. 7

6. in frame for holding license or similar plates, a tubular, U shapedstationary frame member having an opening therein to expose the majorportion of the plate and having slots facing said opening to receive theedges of the plate therein, a tubular, removable frame member forengaging an edge of the license plate to hold the same in lockedposition Within said stationary frame memher, said removable framemember having a slot to receive an edge of the plate therein,

said removable frame member having posts on opposite ends thereofadapted to enter the open ends of said stationary frame member,

locking members in said stationary frame member, co-operating lockingmembers carried by said posts and adapted to escape past said firstlocking members When said removable frame member is being attached tothe stationary frame member, saidlocking means being retained in lookingengagementby a plate held in said frame whereby the plate must bedivided into parts to remove the same from said frame.

7. In a frame for holding license or similar plates, a stationary framemember having an opening therein to expose the major portion of theplate and havi slots to receive the" u a edges of the plate there1n,sa1dframe extend ing around a substantial portion of; the plate,

a removable frame member for engaging an edge of the license plate tohold the same in locked position within said stationary frame member,interlocking members for locking said removable frame member to saidstationary frame member, a license plate insertible in said frame withits edges enclosed by said frame members, saidplate being adapted tomaintain said locking members in looking re lation when the stationaryframe member is in active position, said plate being adapted to besevered into sections and'the sections to be slid into overlappedrelation to disengage the separate sections of the plate from saidlocking means and thereby release said removable frame member.

8. In a frame for holding license or similar plates, a stationary framemember having an opening therein to expose the ma", or portion of theplate and having slots facing said opening to receive the edges of theplate therein, said frame extending around a substantial portion of theplate, and a removable frame member for engaging anedge of the licenseplate to hold the same in locking position within said stationary frame,said removable member having a slot facing said opening and disposed inthe same vertical plane with the slots of said stationary frame member,cooperating locking means enclosed within said frame members for lockingthe removable to the stationary frame member, a license plate insertiblein said frame with its edges enclosed within said frame members, saidplate being adapted to hold said locking members permit the plate to besevered into sections.

Signed at New York, county of New York and State of New York, this 22day of June, 1982.

GEO. M. KESSLER.

in looking relation when said removable frame is in operative position,said plate being adapted to be severed into sections, the slots of saidstationary and removable frame members being widened to permit the edgesof the severed sections of the plate to be moved into overlappingrelation to each other whereby the severed sections of the plate may bedisengaged from said locking means.

9. In a frame for holding license or similar plates, a tubularstationary frame member having an opening therein to expose the majorportion of the plate, and having slots facing said opening to receivethe edges of the plates therein, a tubular, removable frame memberhaving a slot facing said opening to receive at least one edge of theplate therein to hold the plate in looking position within saidstationary frame member, locking means enclosed within said frame whenin operative condition, to prevent the removal of said re-V

